some of the amazing people i work with...

Pictures courtesy of Louis from Vancouver, who believe it or not also used to live on The Drive. Small world!

Our 2 year Anniversary.

When i first signed up for this Blogger thing, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it.
Everything was new and exciting - I had barely heard of "html" or "css", and I have to admit I was smitten with my lovely blank digital workbook.

You know what it's like when you're with that new blog platform? You're loving the feeling, wanting to spend more time with them - even thinking about what you're going to say next time you see them.
Those are some tell-tale signs.
You're in Kim Chi Stew territory, right there.

But before too long, far away in a different land I found myself on lockdown, away from the modcons and conveniences that The Internets provided.
And ashamed as I am to admit it it, I acted like a rabidly emotional schoolgirl. I forgot about blogger.
Blogger was no longer on my mind.
We were already in deep Marmite, and we both knew it.

I'm not proud of the what happened, God knows I would have changed things if I could have... but that all happened in the past, and after a few months Blogger and myself were reunited.
Wow! Buzzing with excitement, we hit an all time high - blogger and me are 100% Lamb Rogan Josh all over each other.
This time, things will be different. We know we're going to make it.
We had our superficial high, we had our depressing low, but we're still together and we're determined to make something of it.

For a while, there's a flurry of posts and activity. Asia is exciting and interesting, and there's no one to talk English to except Blogger!
Yet before too long, we're slipping back from Lamb Rogan Josh high and before we knew it we were Grilling Mackerel...

With nothing much interesting happening in day to day life, I wonder whether I have something interesting to say... or do I?
That's when I resorted to writing absurd stories about old Chinese Ladies and the such.
Yet even ridiculous posts that confused the hell out of my friends could do nothing to brake the impending slide into the Badlands of Blogoshpere known simply as Boiled Cabbage.

During Boiled Cabbage stage, posts are a rare occurence.
Blogger starts to get jealous.
"Is he seeing that Mysapce tart behind my back?!" Blogger wonders silently to itself.
You know what Boiled Cabbage stage is like. We've all been there, and it's not fun.
The less said about Boiled Cabbage stage, the better.

Recently however, Blogger and I have been on the up.
We're totally in that sitting-on-the-couch-all-evening-phase, content to be Grilled Mackerel together.
Things don't always have to be Lamb Rogan Josh in order to enjoy a healthy and fun posting relationship with your digital blogging platform, and we've both come to realise that more than ever, for us Blogging is about leaving a digital trail of rubbish and drivel that hopefully someone somewhere on the otherside of the world will read and not find you to be a complete moron.

the world

Icaro Doria's "Meet the World" campaign.

larph - a candid update

"You used to post piffle and nonsense here all the time - what happened? I'm scared and confused. Please hold me."
I moved around two months ago from Vancouver to London.
During that timespace I reaquainted myself with my family (not seen for years), moved into a new place, got a job and began working pretty hard.
And by working pretty hard, I mean shooting Nazis up to level 7 on Medal of Honour 2.

"And now you work for The Evil Empire a global coffee conglomerate, no?"
That is correct. My days are now filled with pouring hot soy on to my feet and other appendages to numb the pain of interacting with rude customers and their furious lust for the now-discontinued Signature Toffee Nut Syrup. *wipes frothing foam from side of mouth*

"Where are you living now?"
At the moment I am renting a room in Barking, an area in the East End of London.
Burberry baseball caps are not compulsory.

"You must be earning large amounts of cash considering it is London?!"
They pay me in beans. I am assured they are MAGIC beans.
I have recently purchased a ticket to Tokyo, and my account is emptier than a eunuchs' underpants.
BTW OMFG2Eleven, I AM GOING TO JAPAN!!>!! AW3SOM3!11

"Blimey, Japan is a long way to go if you are going to go somewhere."
Well, between you, me and the internet, I am going to the otherside of the world to hang out with the most wonderful woman in the world.
And for the first time no DTS teams will be involved in this trip. I hope.

"Do you miss Vancouver?"
I miss Vancouver a great deal. But at the same time it is exciting to be in a new place with a new adventure to look forward to.
I have no idea what is going to happen.

"Hey, how come you don't talk on skype so much? Is it because of that... thing... that thing that happened... you know?"
No, it is not because of that thing.
I am in a very different time zone and working weird shifts mixed with freakish hours in a vain attempt to save some cash. I very much enjoy talking over skype, and at the moment I have mmy symbol set to "offline". However I am lazy and secretive and sometimes cannot be bothered to set it to "away". Please feel free to skype me, you can find my ID by doing a skype search under my real name. Those of you on the internet who do not know my real name are not allowed to skype me. And no, it has nothing to do with that thing, either. We both know the kitten had it coming.

"If you could do anything in life, what would you be doing right now?"
Honestly, right now if I could be doing anything in life I would be at home in a large vibrant city, writing and munching furiously on BBQ flavoured Hula Hoops. Although not necessarily in that order.

"Do you have any other extracurricular activities going on?"
To my shame, I continue to follow the misfortunes of West Ham United.
I have also been working on a new website which will hopefully provide an exhaustive list of information/weblinks relating to North Korea. It will eventually come online at northkorearesources.com when I can workout how to get PHP to talk to MySQL to talk to MAMF to talk to my webhosts. Watch this space.
Also, I fantasise about running around my local park.

ashbuton grove

I've been hanging out with a Canadian, recently.
The other day, we considered visiting the hallowed turf of Upton Park, but access is limited.
So instead, we visited some tin-pot place in North London.
We also visited a couple of pubs and sampled a traditional carvery complete with "yorkshire pudding" and "treacle sponge".

The turf gets blasted with UV overnight inbetween games.

This is where Jens Lehmann hangs out when he's not throwing pizza at Man U playing staff.

Randy struggles hard to contain his enthusiasm at the temple of "Arse".